


Bloody Hell

by AbsentMinds



Series: Got Hit By The Puberty Stick [1]
Category: A Court of Thorns and Roses Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: F/M, Fluff, I hate the title but oh well, They're just teenagers, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, period fic, some awkward times, some mentions of sex related things but they're 14 so nothing explicit, the tension between these two kids is wow
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-24
Updated: 2020-11-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:15:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27702628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AbsentMinds/pseuds/AbsentMinds
Summary: Elain has gone to Azriel's house to work on a school project. When she starts her period, she panics. Thankfully, her best friend is there to calm her down and help her out.
Relationships: Elain Archeron/Azriel
Series: Got Hit By The Puberty Stick [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2187093
Comments: 14
Kudos: 23





	Bloody Hell

**Author's Note:**

> This was just a self-indulgent fic because I'm having a terrible day, my job was terrible and my anxiety is gross. There is no explanation, I just needed the fluff to make me feel better. I'm sure we all wish we had someone like Azriel when we weren't feeling so great. 
> 
> Also, I kinda hate the title but have no idea what to call this fic so don't judge me pls.

Elain was excited, which was probably really nerdy of her, but she just couldn't help herself. She was doing a history project for school, and she had been paired up with her best friend! Usually, she had the worst luck for partners in school projects, since teachers seem to think that putting someone who doesn't try in class with her will somehow magically make them want to do their work. Spoiler alert; it didn't. As a fourteen-year-old, there is nothing more exciting than doing a project with someone you know will actually pull their own weight. It was twice as exciting since Elain was paired up with someone she actually enjoyed spending time with too. 

Elain practically bounded up to the front door of Azriel's house, where he lived with Rhys and Cassian, after being adopted by Rhys' mother. She always loved going to Az's house to hang out, because Rhys and Cass were hilarious, and Rhys' little sister and mum were so cute, she always felt right at home. Even today, she had been having some kind of stomach ache, but she couldn't bring herself to not go and hang out with her best friend, so she just took some painkillers and hoped that it would go away. 

Her stomach ache was all forgotten as she bounded up to the front door. She was already feeling frozen, with the weather being cold. She was bundled up in her winter coat, hat, scarf and mittens she had knit herself, but she was still frozen after the twenty-minute walk from her house to Azriel's. Her backpack was heavy with all her books and laptop and made her feel like she was carrying a person on her back. 

Cassian opened the door to Elain and called up the stairs to let Az know she was here. He then turned back to Elain and asked, "How's my favourite Archeron sister doing?" As he let her into the house, shutting the door behind her. 

Elain took her shoes off and placed them on the shoe rack by the door. "Don't pretend I'm your favourite Archeron sister when you're practically in love with Nesta."

Cassian blushed and opened his mouth, no doubt to deny Elain's statement. However, before he could defend himself, a soft voice sounded from the top of the stairs. "He can't actually admit he likes Nesta, El, that would mean the end of their weird flirty fighting thing."

Cassian blushed harder and turned to glare at his brother, who was smirking at Elain. Elain couldn't help but let out a little laugh. These days it was the boy's favourite thing to tease Cassian about. Cassian was so clearly into Nesta, as much as he denied it, but Nesta was not interested in anyone at the moment. She had told Elain that she didn't want to be distracted from her studying, but she also had seen the way Nesta looked at Cassian when she thought nobody was looking. Still, she would never betray her sister’s trust like that, so for now, everyone just assumed that Cassian’s crush was particularly pathetic, even for him.

"Guys, you know you can't be mean to Cassian. That just reminds him of Nesta, and then he misses Nesta!" Rhys said, coming out of the living room. He probably had heard them teasing Cassian and couldn't help but join in with the fun. 

"Boys, stop teasing Cassian. Also, El, Az, you both really should go and get started on your schoolwork," Rhys' mother stepped out of the living room and stood in the hallway, giving a stern look to all of them. Despite her trying to look so serious, Elain couldn't miss the twinkle of mischief in her eyes that told her she was thoroughly amused by their antics. 

Azriel gave his mother a small smile before taking Elain's coat, hanging it up on the hooks that Elain could not reach (everyone in their house was freakishly tall, okay?), and then lead her up to his bedroom. Even though she had been there a million times before, Elain couldn't help but think of what Nesta's friend Claire had said about being in a boy's room on your own. She had said that eventually, it would lead to no good. That thought gave her a funny feeling in her stomach that was very different from the stomach ache she had, but she just ignored it. Recently, people had started commenting on her friendship with Azriel, saying how strange it was that they were so close, speculating if they were dating, speculating if they had done stuff. 

Elain hated being the centre of attention anyway, but this was even more painful than that. She had heard whisperings from other girls who didn't like her for no reason other than the fact she was friends with Azriel. Elain was well aware that in their school, Rhys, Cass and Az were super popular and very good looking, however, she didn't understand why that meant they had to say mean things about her.

When they got to Azriel's room, Elain was rudely pulled from her thoughts by the sharp drop in temperature in Azriel's bedroom. Whereas the rest of the house was nice and toasty, Azriel's bedroom felt colder than outside. When she voiced this concern, Az just laughed, pointing out the many layers she had just removed, and of course, she would find it colder than outside now she was no longer bundled up in all that. 

Azriel’s body temperature seemed to be very warm, and as a result, he always kept his bedroom at the same temperature as an igloo. However, before Elain could complain too much, Azriel pointed to his bed, where an electric blanket was set out, ready for her to wrap herself in it. 

"I can't have my room be warm, you know I would melt. But I felt like it was a bit harsh to let you freeze so there you go," Azriel smiled. 

Elain let out a little squeal, because she had dressed in a way that should keep her warm, but knew that it wouldn't do the trick if she was sat on his bed all day. She gave him a quick hug, which caused his face to go red. Elain would think he was blushing, but why would he blush? They always hugged. No, he was probably just warm from her hug.

Elain took all her things out of her bag and set them up on Azriel's bed the way she liked it. She then took all the pillows and propped them up against the wall so she could lean on them. She then wrapped herself in the blanket Az had provided and sat down onto his bed, crossing her legs. 

"Okay, so I took out a bunch of books from the library about Illyrian myths that we can use for our presentation. Is there anything in particular that you're interested in talking about?" Elain asked, getting down to business now. She didn't really want to do work, especially not with her stomach hurting, but the heat from the electric blanket was nice and felt almost soothing. The quicker she was done with the work, the sooner her and Az could go downstairs and play Mario kart with his brothers. 

" I think the idea of the blood rite is very interesting, maybe we could focus on that and why they do it?" Az looked at his own notes he had made on his laptop, and then looked at El for confirmation. When she nodded he continued, "Okay, so shall we research and then come back to each other about what we've found?"

"Sounds good to me. How long shall we research before coming back to each other?"

"An hour? We research and then come back to each other and feedback. That way, we can see what gaps we have and what else we need to look into."

They both started working, falling into a comfortable silence. Occasionally, they would ask the other a question, but they worked well together. Elain, still feeling cold, informed Azriel he was insane, and got into his bed, wrapping the duvet over the electric blanket, making sure her frozen feet were covered. Az simply laughed and said he was clearly made of stronger stuff than her, sending a pillow flying towards his head. 

They both fell back into their comfortable silence, Elain feeling cosy and warm finally. Her stomach was even hurting less, and Elain could feel herself starting to get drowsy. She hadn't slept very well the night before, because of her stomach cramps. She blinked a few times, hoping that it would stop her from falling asleep, but to no avail, as she felt herself drifting off, her pen falling out of her loosened grasp. 

* * *

Azriel looked at the clock on his laptop and realised that their hour was up. He turned his chair to see if Elain was ready to talk about their research, only to find her slumped over the pile of pillows she had made on his bed, wrapped in two blankets, fast asleep. 

Azriel smiled as he looked over at his best friend, warmth and affection rushing to his chest as he looked at her, curled up in the nest she had created on his bed, all her books spread out. She looked peaceful when she was asleep. There had been a few times recently when he had almost been caught staring at Elain. He wasn't sure why, but it felt like he was seeing her for the first time recently. Some of the boys in the changing rooms had asked him about her, thinking they were dating. When he had made it clear they were just friends, the boys had decided that meant they could talk about the fact that her boobs had grown over the summer. 

That had been the beginning of it for Az. He hated it, but after it had been mentioned, he had to see for himself, and yeah, they were right, and he felt gross for looking and even worse for wanting to look again. Thankfully, Azriel had more self-control than that. He hated the way other boys looked at Elain like they were undressing her. He had made it clear in the changing rooms that nobody was to make comments like that about her, but that didn't stop their eyes from wondering. 

He assumed this was all part of being hit by the puberty stick, but Mother's tits, it was so shit. He felt like he couldn't control his body or his mind, and Azriel hated not being in control. Rhys's mother had definitely noticed that the boys were spending more time in the shower, but thankfully, had not spoken to them about it. Still, if he had to have a puberty talk from anyone, he would rather it was her than Rhys's dad. He shuddered to think about how that conversation would go. 

Azriel bit his lip as he looked at Elain's sleeping form, debating whether to wake her up or not. He had noticed the shadows under her eyes and knew that meant that she hadn't slept very well last night, but he hadn't asked her why. He knew Elain would tell him if it was anything important. 

With Elain asleep, Azriel decided to carry on doing research. He knew when El woke up she would feel guilty that he had done more work than her, and usually, with other people, it would bother him, however, he didn't mind so much with El. He knew she would more than make up for it anyway. 

Az researched for another twenty minutes before he heard Elain stirring on his bed. He spun around on his desk chair and grinned at the adorable, sleepy, confused mess that was his best friend. She rubbed her eyes, looking confused for a second, before realising where she was. 

"Did you have a nice nap," Az asked, raising his eyebrow at her. 

Elain blushed, which was something Az loved making her do. She had started doing it more recently, which bought him a lot of joy. "Az, I'm so sorry! You should've woken me up, it wasn't fair that I left you to do all the work."

"It's fine El, you were the one who took library books out and stuff. Don't worry about it. You looked like you needed a nap anyway, so I didn't want to wake you up."

Elain frowned and looked down at her stomach. "Yeah, I had an awful stomach ache last night so I didn't sleep very well. Even this morning it wasn't gone. I have no idea what's going on. I don't think I ate anything funny, but Feyre did cook last night so you never know. I just didn't think there was any possible way you can go wrong with pasta and a sauce from a jar."

Az snorted. "If anyone can figure out a way to make it go wrong, it's Feyre."

"That's true," Elain mused. She sighed, looking around at her comfortable nest. "I should probably go to the bathroom and then get on with some work," she said remorsefully as she pushed the blankets off of her. 

She shivered as she got off Azriel's bed, making him laugh. He could tell that she wasn't even faking it, which just made him laugh harder. However, his laugh was cut off rather abruptly when he saw Elain's bum. His eyes widened as he took in the red stain covering her backside.

"El!" Elain turned around, confused by the shock in Azriel's voice. She frowned at him. "You, erm, you have something on your..."

"What?" She twisted her body to see if she could see what he was talking about, but to no avail. "Az, what is it?" she let out a little nervous laugh. 

"Erm, you have something on your jeans?" He pointed to the mirror, hoping Elain could just look herself and sort herself out. 

Elain and Azriel were best friends, and pretty much told each other everything. However, Azriel did not know Elain had got her period, but he wasn't surprised that he hadn't heard about this. Elain was always very awkward about anything to do with puberty so Azriel tried not to be hurt that she hadn't told him about this milestone. Perhaps he was thinking about it too much? Not everyone told everyone everything. Maybe they weren't as close as they thought? That thought hurt Az more than he thought it would.

Elain's gasp of horror pulled him from his melancholy thoughts. Elain was looking at the stain in his mirror as though she was about to cry, which told Az that perhaps his best friend was not growing apart from him. Elain let out a little whimper of embarrassment as she turned to look at where she had been sat on Azriel's bed. Az stood up and saw that there was a little mark on his bedsheet. When he looked back up, Elain looked mortified, and looked away from him, tears brimming in her eyes. 

"Hey, El, it's okay, don't cry," Az said, rushing to her side and enveloping her into a hug. Elain tried to push away, too embarrassed, but Azriel didn't let her. He wasn't about to let his best friend beat herself up about something she couldn't help, which seemed to just make her cry more. 

"Az, I'm so sorry!" She managed to say in-between her sobs, her whole body shaking with the effort to try and keep them contained. 

"El, listen, you have nothing to worry about! This is not your fault. Accidents happen," he leaned down and kissed her forehead. "You go and get cleaned up and I can deal with that."

"I don't have anything with me," Elain whispered, burying her face in his chest. 

"What do you mean?"

"I don't have any period supplies. I've never, I mean I didn't. Erm, this is my first time getting my period. I don't have the stuff I need," Az could feel her face heating up as she pressed it against his chest, as though she was hoping that would make it all go away. 

"Ah, okay. Well, I can go get you some stuff?" 

"How? You can't exactly leave me like this and go to the shops now, everyone would ask questions and I really don't want anyone else finding out about this," she pulled her face away from his chest to look up at him. Her nose was red, her eyes were puffy and still a little watery, but Az couldn't help but think she looked adorable. 

"What about if I ask mum? Nobody else. You know she would never tell anyone."

El hesitated. Az knew that after Elain's mother had died, his mum had gone out of his way to make sure his best friend could talk to her about anything. But Elain liked to bottle things up, and try and deal with them on her own, so he wasn't sure she had ever taken her up on the offer. 

"Okay, ask her for some supplies I guess. I know how to put them on so please don't let her see me like this."

Azriel nodded, gave her a quick peck on the cheek and then left her standing in the middle of his room, looking a little lost. Az felt his heart squeeze at the sight and wanted to go back and hold her again, but he knew he needed to help her clean up first.

He found his mum alone thankfully, in the study, away from any prying ears. She smiled as Az walked in, but her eyes narrowed slightly, taking in how Az shifted awkwardly, and picked at the skin on his fingers, a bad habit he had picked up to distract him from his nerves. 

"Az, honey, is everything alright?" 

"I, yeah I'm fine. It's just Elain," he trailed off, not sure how he should say it. 

"What about Elain? Is she okay?"

"Yeah, she just erm, got her period?" He bit his lip nervously. 

"Ah, okay. Does she need me to come up?"

"Erm, no, she's kinda embarrassed right now. She only just got it, and she kinda leaked through her clothes and stuff. It got on my bed too but I'll clean it up. She just doesn't have any period stuff."

"Ah okay, follow me." 

Azriel followed his mum to her bathroom, where she opened the cupboard and showed him where all the period supplies were. "I haven't needed to keep them in the main bathroom yet, since your sister is too young, but perhaps I should start so it's easier for Elain."

Az couldn't help but smile at the way his mum accommodated for Elain in the same way she did for her own children. "Thanks, this is fine for now though. Which kind is the best to give her?" 

Azriel listened while his mum explained about flow, and which pad would be best for Elain. He filed all the information away in case he needed it and grabbed two pads that were for a heavy flow so Elain could have a spare if she needed it. He then thanked his mum and walked back to his room. 

Elain was stood in the middle of the room, exactly how he had left her. His heart broke a bit when he saw how sad and broken she looked. He needed to fix that. What kind of best friend would he be if he didn't even cheer her up?

"Okay, I have the goods. Mum said that you'll probably need thicker pads because you'll have a heavier flow right now. She also said wings are a good idea," he said, handing her a pad. He then put the spare on his desk and walked over to his wardrobe and drawers. "Do you want to have a shower to clean up a bit?" He asked as he rifled through all of his trousers, trying to find some that would fit Elain. 

"Yeah that might be for the best," Elain replied hoarsely. 

"Okay, that's fine. You know where the towels are. If you want to wash your hair, Cassian has a new fancy shampoo and conditioner that he's obsessed with," Az raised his eyebrows at her in a conspiratorial way, hoping to get a smile from her. Her frown eased slightly, and he could see some slight mirth in her eyes, but nothing else, but Az could work with that. 

He managed to find some grey, jogging bottoms which were good enough for keeping Elain warm, and she could roll up the bottoms so she didn't trip over them. Up until a few years ago, he had been the same size in clothes as El, but he'd had a growth spurt and was now much taller than her. 

"Here, you can give me your jeans and I'll get them in the washing machine. You can hand your underwear over too if you want, I'm gonna wash my bedding anyway. I'll just find you some clean boxers of mine you can wear."

"Az, I can't do that!" Elain exclaimed, blushing.

"What can't you do?" Az said, stopping his search for some nice boxers Elain could wear, and looking up at her in confusion. 

"Let you wash my period blood-covered clothes! Especially my underwear," She said, sounding even more embarrassed now. "And I can't wear your boxers while I'm on my period. What if I leak again? I'll ruin them."

"I don't see why not. It's only blood El. I can wash them while you're in the shower, it'll save us time. And who cares if you leak in my boxers, they're not that important. If it makes you feel better, I'll give you some old ones. Also, I have seen your underwear so many times, it’s not even a big deal anymore. I think by the age of seven I had become desensitised to it."

Elain looked like she was going to say no, and Azriel could tell that if she had any other options, she would've, but he was grateful when she just sigh and gave him a small nod. Azriel, of course, had no intension of giving Elain his old boxers, especially because they looked a bit gross. He would be embarrassed if she saw them. No, what Elain didn't know wouldn't hurt her, he decided as he subtly slipped out a new pair of boxers from the packet in his drawer. 

He handed them over to Elain, who mumbled a thank you and then quickly shuffled off to the bathroom. From all her sleepovers, Elain knew where everything was in the bathroom, so Az simply waited outside until an arm popped out with some bundled clothes. He thanked her and went down to the utility room with the bedsheets and the clothes. 

Thankfully, no blood had gotten onto his mattress thanks to his mattress cover, which was such a lifesaver. He quickly put a fresh bed sheet on his bed in case Elain came out of the shower before he was done with the washing. Elain's period blood was not the only thing to have stained his mattress protector recently, and he could really do without Elain seeing those other stains. He didn't think it would be so fun for him to try and explain those stains to anyone, especially not her.

Once he had quickly made his bed, he went downstairs with the dirty laundry and got to work washing out the stains. According to Google, it was best to wash the stains by hand with cold water and soap, and then put them in the washing machine to make sure that the stains were properly gone. The stains on his sheets were a little tricky since they were white, but Azriel didn't mind too much. He was very thankful that Elain's jeans and underwear were clean. He then quickly put everything into the washing machine and went back into his room.

Elain was sat on the edge of his bed, freshly washed. She smelled like Cassian's fancy shampoo and his body wash, which made his chest feel funny. She looked adorably drowned out in his joggers, and he could see she had folded them up a lot. He ignored the strange feeling he was having and went and sat down next to Elain, giving her the biggest hug he could. Elain hugged him back, which made him feel better. He hadn't realised how worried he had been about her until she had hugged him. 

Elain pulled away from their hug first, but still stayed close to him. "Thank you so much," she smiled at him, and then leaned against him, resting her head on his chest.

"There's nothing to thank me for. You needed help and I helped you. What are friends for?" He said, happy that Elain was smiling again. He smiled and gave her a quick kiss on the head and then wrapped his arm around her. 

"I know but thank you, seriously. I freaked out but you were so calm and collected. I guess I know who to go to for help in a crisis, even if I feel embarrassed."

"El, you never have to feel embarrassed with me. Do you know you can come to me for anything? Even if you think it's embarrassing. You know I would never laugh at you. I prefer to laugh with you anyway."

Elain didn't respond with words but just snuggled up further into Azriel's arms. Azriel smiled and wrapped his arms around her tighter. People seemed to think there was an expiry date on their friendship, but Az could tell, their feelings would just get stronger and stronger. He couldn't imagine his life without Elain in it and knew that she felt the same. For now, that was enough for both of them.

**Author's Note:**

> If anyone has any requests then please let me know in the comments or on my tumblr (perseusannabeth). 
> 
> Let me know what you thought of the fic, even if it's just an emoji, it truly makes my day!


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